Deutsch to discuss how parents can "Halve It All"

Francine Deutsch, author of the book Halving It All: How Couples Practice Equally Shared Parenting, will discuss how parents can balance work and better share in the responsibility of raising children at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, Bates College. The public is invited to attend the Muskie Millennial Series lecture free of charge.

Deutsch, a professor of psychology and education at Mount Holyoke College, notes that shared parenting does exist, and, contrary to popular belief, it’s not just staunch feminists or professional families who practice it. In her several-year study of 150 dual-earner couples, Deutsch compared couples who split parenting to find out which couples succeed in equal sharing, how it is accomplished and what techniques and tips they use. Using real-life stories in her book, Deutsch reveals how these families have redefined ideas about what it means to be a “good mother” and “good father,” and have discovered a more flexible ideal: the “good parent.”

Deutsch will discuss a variety of topics, including how women can pursue their career dreams without sacrificing their children, what men must do at home to allow their wives to succeed at work and what businesses must do to create a climate in which men can equally share in parenting.